Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

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"General, would you like to accept the challenge?" the deputy general asked.
"Who is the enemy's general that will lead the first attack?" Luther asked in a low voice. He had never expected that he would
one day stand on the other side, as a traitor facing against the army of the Bright Dynasty.
"It is said to be General Shawn."
When Luther heard that, his eyes shined a bit. 'So it's him, ' he thought. With a smirk, he then commanded, "Give the order and
get ready to fight."
"Luther, close the gates and keep watch," Francis commanded when Luther approached him.
Upon hearing this, Luther turned around and looked at Francis with the same serious expression on his face. "Your Highness,
the enemy's leader in this battle is General Shawn," he said.
Francis was taken aback by the unexpected news. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Shawn, who was supposed to be in
the north domain, had come to the south domain? When did he arrive? A lot of questions were on his mind but he only said one
of them. "Why did he come here?"
"Presumably, ever since Prince Matthew started preparing to come here, he has already chosen a person to be in charge of the
south domain." A complex expression flashed through Luther's eyes before he added, "I just didn't expect it to be General
Shawn."
"No, it isn't him. He isn't the one whom Matthew has chosen!" Standing on the city gate tower, Francis looked at the dark clouds
gathering in the sky. With an aura of destroying everything on its way, the clouds weren't far from them. "Shawn is coming here
to make the first move."
Luther was a person of great discernment. He instantly realized that there were two valiant generals from the north domain:

General Shawn, and the rising newcomer, General Carlson!
Carlson was a member of the royal family. He was Prince Allen's son and the current emperor's cousin, so he was the most
suitable candidate to take charge of the south domain. Although Shawn's family had done a great favor for the late emperor, they

didn't come from the exclusive royal bloodline. "He indeed favors Lucas!" Francis exclaimed with a sneer. 'You have even figured
out how to get rid of the malignant tumor hidden in the south domain. Do you really have no ambition, Matthew? If you don't, why
did you even train your soldiers? Why
did you disobey the orders of the late emperor, making him afraid of you? If so, will Lucas tolerate you when he's in power?'
"Your Highness, please allow me to fight," Luther asked with utmost sincerity and a hint of desperation. If he could fight against
General Shawn, he wouldn't have regrets even if he died doing so. Francis closed his eyes when he replied, "Come back alive.
Luther, right now, you're the only one I have left. My brother Jason is gone, and she's... You must come back alive." Luther didn't
respond right away for he wasn't sure if he could come back alive. He also didn't want to disappoint Francis in giving him false
hopes. "I will try my best," he said after a while. "Go ahead! Since it's your desire to fight against Shawn, I won't stop you. Yet, on
one condition, you must come back alive!" There were a lot of things that Francis was feeling—misery, desolation, and most of
all, he felt abandoned. Except for Luther,
there was no one around him who kept on supporting him. It was for this reason that he didn't want to lose the man.
"Yes," Luther briefly responded before he left in a rush.
In no time, Luther led the troops to the battlefield while Francis stood on the gate tower to watch everything. It was in July and
the sun was burning so bright that it caused pain to everyone's skins. Becky approached Francis and held an umbrella for him.
"Your Highness, the sun is scorching here. Why don't we go inside for now?"
Francis shook his head and thought to himself, 'This battle is particularly important. Matthew is very adamant and even a little
desperate to defeat the Birch Pass so he can go and rescue Harper. But that's not going to happen for I will keep him here for as

long as we can. He wants to save her? There's no way that's going to happen!'
When the two armies came face to face, Shawn who was in a military uniform did not look like a mere scholar anymore. No one
would associate him with the word "frailty" now. He was a powerful soldier dressed in the grandest military uniform. However,
once he removed his military uniform, he looked like a modest gentleman and a weak scholar. But whether he was a soldier or a
scholar, no one dared to look down upon him. "General Shawn." "General Luther.

I hope that we won't regret anything after this battle," Shawn plainly said with a calm expression on his face.
"General, I would like to ask you not to show any mercy, please. I have admired you for a long time. For this battle, I won't hold
back," Luther stated with a smile.
"You didn't have to ask. I don't plan on showing any mercy. Come on!"
The fight, however, ended up in chaos filled with swords and blood. Both of them were well-known generals at a young age. One
of them was from a prestigious and wealthy family of a marquis and had a rich life since he was a child, while the other was from
an orphanage and had to go through so much just to survive. Both of them had rich combat experience and were very good at
fighting on horseback. Indeed, they were equals both in skills and abilities.
With so much emotion written all over his face, Shawn thought, 'If you didn't rebel against the country with Prince Francis, I
wouldn't have hesitated to be friends with you.' He then said, "Luther, if we were not enemies, I would like to be your friend."
Luther gave him a warm smile. "General, with those words, I could die without regret. But unfortunately, I have to keep my
promise to His Highness."
What happened next seemed to go by in a second. As soon as Shawn's sword was placed back into its sheath, Luther fell from
his horse and immediately reached the ground. Before he died, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. 'Your Highness, I'm sorry
that I can't keep my promise. You have to move on by yourself, ' he thought.
Standing on the gate tower, Francis saw when Luther fell down from his horse while his soldiers were being executed left and
right. A teardrop fell from his face. From the moment he heard Luther's request to fight, he perfectly knew that this general had
made up his mind to fight until his death. The general didn't want to have any more fight. After all, it was against his people that
had been his comrades once!
"Luther, farewell."